August 21, 2017

E Day

by Doctor Science

I'm spending E-Day in Connecticut, where there weather is decent but the eclipse only so-so. I am so consumed with envy for totality-watchers (including Mr Dr Science, who's road-tripping to NC) I've been dreaming I was one of you. The other night I dreamed I was trying to map the totality path through Block Island – because it was a dream the path was very wiggly, though even dreaming I thought that seemed fishy. Woke up and spent a moment wondering if we could drive down. Crushed to realize it wasn't real.

We're going to get about 70% here in the San Francisco area. The question, judging from the moment, is will the clouds be so heavy that we can probably look at the sun without glasses? Or will the eclipse be totally hidden? Sigh.

I can't see myself bucking traffic or crowds either one. But hey, there's another total eclipse in 2024, and on that occasion totality will pass within an hour or two of my house.

When I win the lottery I'm going to buy a camp (Maine-ish for rustic cabin/cottage) up toward Jackman and go wait for the occasion.

Besides the lottery, of course, that "plan" depends on whether I last another seven years. My mother is setting a tough standard at almost 94 and still living in her own place, but longevity is surely among the most fickle of supposed inheritances.

Some moments, the clouds clear and the pinhole box works well. Other moments, the clouds are thick enough that the camera gets a pretty good image when looking (at just the right angle) at the reflection off the double pane windows.

And sometimes the clouds are think enough that (with enormous care) you could believe that you can actually just look at the clouds -- although I'm reluctant to do so, not wanting to risk the only set of eyes I've got.

There was a nice crowd with a lot of regulars at one of my usual establishments, it was 97.2% in Atlanta. The light was odd, less intense than it should be with the sun that high in the sky, with a different quality than clouds create. Looking east away from the sun the sky was a deeper blue than normal at 2:36 pm. Lots of people taking pictures of the crescents of light on the sidewalk and patio, I parked in the shade of a tree and got a nice shot of the light and shadow patterns on my driver's seat.

The place introduces it's Burger of the Week special each Monday, with this week's being the Total Eclipse of the Heart, a burger with cheddar, a fried egg and "Moon sauce", ingredients of which I have yet to inquire about. As I was going to work after lunch I did not sample either of the drink specials, the Bloody Mooney (moonshine instead of vodka) and the Black Sun (orange liqueur and dark rum).

Totally unimpressive event here in the South Sound. I was at work so watched on TV.

I loved the crowds in weird places gathered to gether like it was some great pagan event. They had cheerleaders adn a marching band in Ohio.

One of the weirdest places was the little town in Kentucy that turned out to be the superspot for the eclipse, the place where the moon was exactly lined up with the earth. Something sort of mystical about that in a sci fi way. It turns out that town was visited by aliens a couple of decades a go. Locals shot at the aliens and there was a big fire fight with deer rifles and so on. The aliens did not shoot back and no one was hurt. Now they have a Little Green Man Festival every year.

wonkie: that was Hopkinsville KY. They were going all commercial with "pay $50 for a reserved parking spot".

Went to Princeton KY, just down the road. VERY nice friendly town, they were handing out viewing glasses to people who still needed on, directing people to bathrooms in the courthouse, free parking in the municipal parks. Lots of people picnicking and kids running around.

We had a bit over 93% here, clouds stayed back over the mountains. The lighting was definitely weird. Got cooler, sunshine entirely lost its usual Colorado "bite". Didn't see any birds or animals do strange things, but near the maximum coverage the gnats and mosquitoes came out. The shadows of the deciduous trees went from being the usual splotchy shadows to being thousands of crescent images -- very cool.

Totality in Nebraska for @ two and a half minutes. The atmosphere went lurid, like submersion in the ocean, the night cicadas joined the day cicadas in their drone, the tree frogs awoke for the interlude and sang and chirped.

It was surprisingly not crowded along I-80 where I took up my post, I walked down a path along a river to be away from the folks who did gather.

At totality, the golden ring was truly something to behold, as the sun's corona danced around the moon. The coverage looked more like an opening into space. It had depth and beckoned.

It looked like the Ring in "Lord of The Rings" after Gollum fell with it into the lava flow beneath Mordor and floated.

Then as the moon made its first move away, the flash was awe-inspiring. I tried to imagine how ancient peoples might have responded to such a spectacular celestial display.

You know how when the wait person asks you if would prefer tap water or a bottle of sparkling water from the aquifer of the water Gods and when you respond, "Tap is fine", he/she says brightly "Awesome!"

Maybe the wait person is a poet of the everyday and is expressing the sacramental nature of the quotidian mundane.

Probably though, the language is just being debased by yet another cheeky advertiser.

Tap water or the sparkling variety or the cheese fries are NOT awesome. Never will be.

The total eclipse of the sun that I was privileged to witness through my NASA-certified eclipse glasses was AWESOME.

Great ending to my road trip (5300 miles), where I found every individual in every state I visited to be fine, friendly people.

All of them were better qualified, merely on account of their native public kindness, to lead the country than the exhibitionist malign shit now leading it.

How did this happen that such good people vomited up our coming disaster.